Romance in Manhattan
by Chrystallized
Summary: There's definitely some sort of attraction between them. Percy's too chicken to tell her, and Annabeth's too stubborn to admit it to him. When their friends get involved, things start getting messy. But who knows? Maybe it won't be as bad as they think. [DISCONTINUED]
1. I: Annabeth

Chapter 1: Annabeth

Annabeth woke up to bright light streaming through her window. She squinted and shielded her eyes. After blinking a few times, she got up reluctantly and stretched, then turned her attention to the large mirror on her closet door. She didn't look _too_ bad in the mornings, just a little less than presentable for her own liking. She let out a long sigh, walked out of her room, and started towards the bathroom.

When she had fixed herself up and came downstairs, her stepmom had already cooked breakfast and was laying it out on the table. Her twin half-brothers, Matthew and Bobby, were pigging out on bacon and pancakes. The smell of syrup wafted through the air and made her stomach grumble.

"Morning," she greeted her family. Her stepmom gave her a warm smile and told her to sit down and eat, while her brothers hardly even looked up from their food. She knew her dad left for work pretty early, so it was normal that he wasn't around for breakfast.

Breakfast was silent except for the chewing and the scraping of forks against plates. Annabeth had finished before the rest of them, so she grabbed her backpack and began to walk out the door.

"Hold on, Annabeth," her stepmom called. She turned and her stepmom asked, "You have any plans after school for today?"

Annabeth thought for a moment. "I might just go with my friends later and hang out someplace."

Her stepmom nodded. "All right, make sure you have your keys. Be home by four thirty, unless you call and tell me or your dad otherwise, okay?"

"Sure thing. Bye guys!"

The school Annabeth attended was within walking distance, thankfully, however her brothers' school was farther away, and towards the same direction as their mom's work, so they'd take the car. Annabeth never minded, though. She liked having my own time to think about stuff and be in her own little world, even though New York wasn't exactly a place where you could keep to yourself.

Annabeth had time to spare when she arrived on campus, so she went on a search for my friends. Rachel would probably be at school already; she was always an early riser. It didn't take too long for Annabeth to find Rachel (you could spot her frizzy red hair from virtually anywhere), who was outside, sitting at the lunch table under a large tree. She had her sketch pad out and appeared to be drawing something. Annabeth walked over and sat next to her, placing her backpack on the floor under the table.

"Hey Rachel," she said, peering over at Rachel's pad. "What're you drawing?"

Rachel looked up. "Oh, hi Annabeth." She smiled. "I was just doing some landscapes." Rachel had a lot of artistic talent. Even the denim knee-length shorts she was wearing were covered in little marker drawings, as were most of Rachel's pants. She had a habit of doodling on her jeans when she was bored.

"It looks really nice," Annabeth complimented. Rachel had drawn a beach scene with a sunset. The waves were sketched so that they were gentle-looking, hitting the shoreline with small splashes. Despite it being in all pencil, Rachel had managed a glowing effect around the sun that was dipping below the horizon.

"Thanks," Rachel said. "I think that cruise our family was on during the summer is having an effect on me." She chuckled.

Rachel's family was extremely wealthy. However, if you looked at Rachel, she didn't really reflect the typical image of a "rich girl." Her father was the CEO of Dare Enterprises. Rachel didn't flaunt the whole ordeal or anything. She only wanted to be a teenager, a regular teenager, not just some big business owner's spoiled princess of a daughter. It was good to know that Rachel was so down-to-earth; it made her a great friend.

For a while, Annabeth watched as Rachel completed her drawing. More people had come on campus, and soon the school was full of noisy teenagers. Then her attention drifted away and she noticed someone she had never seen before. Annabeth was known for her memory and intelligence, and she knew that if she _had_ seen this person before, she would have definitely remembered.

The person was a guy, maybe in her grade. His hair was black and unruly, and his eyes were a green color, like Rachel's. He looked lost, and Annabeth figured he was a new student. She nudged Rachel, and nodded in the boy's direction.

"Do you know who the new guy is?" she asked Rachel.

Rachel moved her gaze over the new student. She pursed her lips, as if trying to recall something. "Percy Jackson, I think. I remember Bianca saying that there was going to be a new student this semester." Bianca di Angelo was another one of their friends.

Rachel put her sketch pad and pencil away. "We should go say hello."

Annabeth turned her head to look at Rachel, her eyebrow raised quizzically. "What? How come?"

"I don't know." Rachel shrugged. "I think he'd appreciate if someone introduced themselves, just so he doesn't feel so out of place. Come on Annabeth, I'm sure he won't bite."

She grabbed Annabeth's hand and all but dragged her to the new person. He hadn't seemed to notice them until Rachel asked, "Hey, are you new here?"

The boy turned to look at them, a little surprised. He was a few inches taller than either Annabeth or Rachel. "Oh, um…yeah," he muttered.

"I'm Rachel, and this is Annabeth." Rachel said cheerily, taking care of both their introductions.

Annabeth saw the guy give a nervous smile. "My name's Percy," he told them.

Rachel grinned. "Nice to meet you, Percy." Rachel stuck out her hand and they shook. Meanwhile, Annabeth stood awkwardly to the side. She'd let Rachel take care of the social graces. But Rachel had other ideas. She gave Annabeth a look and said, "Annabeth, you don't have to be so quiet. Say hi or something!"

Annabeth hesitated. "Uh, hi, I guess." She managed a weak smile.

Percy smiled back and said, "Hey." His eyes twinkled in the light, and the green color reminded Annabeth of the ocean, a deep sea green.

Then the bell rang for everyone to head to their classrooms. Rachel looked back at Percy and asked, "What's your homeroom?"

"Um…" Percy thought for a moment. "Brunner."

"Great!" Rachel nudged Annabeth. "Annabeth has Mr. Brunner for homeroom, too. She'll take you over, right Annabeth?"

Percy and Rachel were both looking at her. Rachel was expectant, but Percy's expression came off as more apologetic, like he figured that she didn't want to be stuck as the new kid's tour guide. It's not that Annabeth minded much, of course, she just didn't really have the social skills that Rachel did.

Slowly, Annabeth nodded. "All right," she said. "Come on Percy, before we're late. See ya, Rachel!"

Rachel headed off to her homeroom class and Percy followed Annabeth to Brunner's classroom. The walk to the class was a bit tense; they didn't talk or anything, that is, until Annabeth tripped. She wasn't the clumsy type, but as she was walking, she stumbled trying to avoid getting her feet stepped on by others in the hallway. Percy caught her arm so she wouldn't fall.

"Thanks," she murmured, blowing some hair out her face.

"No problem," he replied.

Annabeth blinked. "Um…Percy, you can let go now."

"Oh." Percy quickly released his grip. "Sorry."

Annabeth chuckled. They walked past a few more doors down the hallway and came to Mr. Brunner's room. Almost everyone else had made it before them, minus a few people, and they all looked up with confused faces as they saw Percy walked in. A few girls started whispering to each other. Nervously, Percy ran his fingers through his messy hair.

"Good morning, Mr. Brunner," Annabeth said to their teacher. "This is Percy. He's new to the school and he'll be in our homeroom from now on."

Mr. Brunner was a tall man, with brown hair and a scruffy beard. He had this fatherly look in him, and his eyes would sparkle with amusement from time to time. Over all, he was a great teacher.

"I see," Mr. Brunner said. "Pleasure to meet you, Percy. Welcome to the class."

"Thank you, sir."

"Go ahead and take a seat," Mr. Brunner told him. Annabeth went to go sit down too, taking the seat next to Percy, as it was the only one available.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Percy looking at her with his head tilted slightly, as if thinking about something. She flashed him a quick, friendly smile before facing the front, and Mr. Brunner called the class to attention as the bell rang.

"All right everyone," he said. "Settle down now. Welcome back to the new semester of school. As many of you can see, we have a new student in our class."

Everyone looked at Percy. Annabeth saw that he seemed quite uncomfortable with the attention, and she felt a little sorry for him.

"Tell them your name, please," Mr. Brunner coaxed. He gave Percy a reassuring nod.

"My name's Percy Jackson," Percy managed to say.

A few guys sitting around Percy introduced themselves, and again Annabeth saw some girls whisper to each other excitedly. Mr. Brunner asked the class to treat Percy well and help make his first day at the school a good one.

"As we know," Mr. Brunner continued, "he'll need a guide to show him around campus—"

A few girls sat up straight in anticipation.

"—so Annabeth, seeing as you two have already been acquainted, I ask that you will be able to follow through with this task."

The girls slumped back in their chairs dejectedly and gave Annabeth envious looks. Annabeth looked at Mr. Brunner uncertainly, but nodded.

As class rolled by, Annabeth looked out the window, lost in thought. She wasn't really a slacker; school was just easier for her than most other people, so she didn't have to try as hard. Mr. Brunner was going on about the lesson, but Annabeth had already taken down enough notes and decided to just relax.

When class ended, Annabeth hurried for the door, momentarily forgetting about her obligation to show Percy around school. She stopped herself and went back to wait for him. Once Percy finished packing up, they were about to leave, but Mr. Brunner told Percy to wait outside the classroom so he could talk to Annabeth.

"Annabeth," Mr. Brunner began, "please see to it that you keep Percy out of trouble today, all right?"

Annabeth looked at Mr. Brunner quizzically. "Oh…okay."

Mr. Brunner nodded for her to go, and Annabeth left. _What does Mr. Brunner mean by keeping him out of trouble? _she wondered. Annabeth found Percy leaning against the wall, waiting for her to come out.

"What was that about?" Percy asked her.

"Huh?" Annabeth was too lost in her thoughts to pay much attention to his question.

"The thing with Mr. Brunner," Percy replied. "What were you guys talking about?"

"Oh that," Annabeth mumbled. "It's nothing; we were just discussing a few things, that's all." She sighed, and noticed that Percy was giving her a skeptical look.

"Sure…" he said.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him. "Anyway, whose class do you have next?"

"Sanchez."

"Okay." Annabeth bit her lip, thinking. "I have Oakley, and those two rooms are on opposite ends of campus. We'll have to hurry if I'm to make it to class before passing period ends." She grabbed his upper arm and started walking at a brisk pace. "Let's go."

"Wait, Annabeth—" Percy started to say, but Annabeth tugged him and he stumbled.

Annabeth rushed him through the hallways. Time to time she'd have to wait for him to catch up with her. She found herself getting a little irritated. Annabeth wanted to maintain a punctual record, and Percy wasn't exactly making it easy for her. When they finally made it to Sanchez's classroom, Percy looked slightly winded.

"Geez," he muttered. "What's the rush?"

"Passing period is only five minutes long," Annabeth explained impatiently, tapping her foot.

Percy glanced at the watch on his wrist and groaned. "You have four minutes left!"

"I like to be early." Annabeth shrugged. "Now, when class ends, meet me out here, okay? I can take you to your next class."

"Hold on, a sec—"

Abruptly, Annabeth grabbed Percy's wrist and looked at the time on his watch. She cursed. "Three minutes left. I'll see you later!"

She left Percy standing in front of the door and nearly ran to Oakley's class.


	2. II: Percy

**A/N: To answer a reviewer's question, this is an AU fic; no demigods, all are mortal. Also, I'm not sure what age everyone is, so I just put some of them in the same grade as Percy and Annabeth, and some older. There will be some OC's, and they may reflect some clues about who their parents could be if they were demigods. It was just something fun I thought I could incorporate into the story.  
**

Chapter 2: Percy

Percy stared as Annabeth rushed off. He shook his head in disbelief and walked into Sanchez's classroom. He'd wanted to tell Annabeth that she didn't have to come back all the way across campus to show him to class; he _did _have a map the whole time, after all. But it seemed like she was taking this guide thing a bit too seriously. Well, at least she was being nice.

Thanks to Annabeth he was one of the first students there, which hardly ever happens for him. He took a seat waited for class to start. Percy had ADHD, so sitting there with nothing to do for three minutes seemed longer than it really was.

During class, Percy could not pay attention at all. It was math, and he wasn't too fond of the subject. He tried to take notes, but he didn't even know what he was doing. Miraculously, he got his work done before the bell rang. Percy packed up his stuff and made his way to the door. While he was walking out, he bumped into someone.

"Sorry!" he said. Then he got a look at the person's face. "Annabeth?" he asked incredulously. There was no way she could've gotten here so fast.

Annabeth huffed. "Took you long enough to get out."

"But I—how did you…?" Percy stuttered, trying to get the words out.

She sighed in exasperation. "It's called 'walking.'"

"You said you were on the other side of campus!"

"Class?" Annabeth prompted, ignoring his remark.

"Robinson," Percy said, forgetting his original plan to tell Annabeth that he had a map of the school.

She nodded. "Good."

"Good?" Percy looked at her in confusion. "Why good?"

Annabeth sighed again. She explained carefully, as if talking to a young child. "My next class is closer to Robinson's room. We don't have to rush this time."

As they began walking, Percy said, "Hey, Annabeth?"

"Hm?" Annabeth always seemed to be coming out of a daze when he tried to initiate conversation, like she was so lost in thought she forgot about the real world.

"What's wrong?"

Annabeth turned to look at him. "What?"

"Well," Percy began, "you just seem so frustrated with me, and we just met. What'd I do?"

Annabeth hesitated like she was trying to put the words together in her head. After a moment she said, "It's not that I'm frustrated with you. I think I just want to do this right."

That didn't really clear anything up. "Do what right?"

"Showing you around," Annabeth said, giving him a "duh" look.

"But, I mean, it's just showing me around, isn't it? There's not much an effort to put into that, is there?"

Percy could've sworn Annabeth was smiling a little in amusement, but she wasn't looking at him, so he couldn't really tell. "You're right, actually. Normally I wouldn't do so much to help someone like you."

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"

Suddenly, Annabeth stopped walking. "This is your class. Mine is right across the hall, so when the bell rings, you can just—"

"I have a map," Percy interjected.

Annabeth blinked. "Excuse me?"

Percy mentally face palmed. He hadn't really intended to tell her like that. "I've got a map of campus; you don't have to show me around if you don't want to."

"Who told you I didn't want to show you around?"

"Uh…" was Percy's ingenious response. That wasn't what he expected Annabeth to say. He was thinking that she'd be more relieved than indignant.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, I don't bite. Besides, it's not so bad. I'll see you after class, okay?"

"Um, okay," Percy said as she left.

Percy didn't enjoy Robinson's class any more than he did the previous one. When Annabeth had taken him to his fourth period, it wasn't any different. So far, the only class that interested him was Mr. Brunner's, and it was pretty cool that Percy had him for homeroom. Academics weren't exactly his strong suit, so school wasn't very pleasant for him most of the time.

At least some of the people at this school were friendly, from what he'd seen so far. He had only met Annabeth and Rachel, but seemed like good people. They didn't think he was a menace like a lot of the other kids at his old school did. Of course, they didn't really know him. Percy seemed to always get himself into trouble. Some assumed it was because of his ADHD. It was hard to explain to people about the accidents he'd make. It's not like he meant to cause himself problems, but most people wouldn't listen.

When the bell rang for lunch, Annabeth was standing outside Percy's classroom again. She led him to a table under a tree, where students were already sitting. He recognized Rachel, but the others he didn't know. Rachel took it upon herself to go through introductions again. There was Bianca, Travis and Connor Stoll, and Aden Forge.

They smiled and said hi. One of the Stoll brothers (he couldn't tell one from the other, but Rachel said they weren't twins) offered him an apple, but given the mischievous grin on his face, he declined the offer.

Annabeth took a seat next to Rachel and Percy sat across from Annabeth, next to Aden. For a few minutes, no one really said anything. Then Rachel spoke up.

"So, Percy, what do you plan to do at Goode High?"

Percy hesitated, thinking. "I want to join the swim team."

"You swim?" Aden asked.

"Yeah," Percy replied, nodding. "I just like being in water."

"Tryouts for the semester are on Friday, after school," Bianca informed him. "You should go."

Percy gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks."

Just then, Annabeth flinched and screamed. Percy could tell she flinched because she kicked his shin hard underneath the table. He grunted in pain and clutched his leg. The whole table was startled, except for Travis and Connor, who were busting up with laughter. When Percy looked up, he saw a rubber spider on the table in front up Annabeth, who had jumped out of her seat and was hiding behind Rachel. He almost laughed at her too, but when she turned her eyes to the Stoll brothers, her glare was nothing to laugh about.

"Travis!" she yelled. She started after him.

"Oops, gotta go!" Travis said, getting out his seat and running for his life. He was still smiling.

Connor snickered. "Good luck bro!"

Percy gave everyone a confused look. They were all smiling, like Annabeth's anger wasn't much to worry about, but Percy was still worrying about what would happen to Travis if Annabeth got a hold of him.

"Annabeth's afraid of spiders," Rachel explained. "Travis and Connor are the only ones who make a point of it, but Annabeth really hates it. Don't worry, she doesn't normally blow up like that."

"She's just _deathly_ afraid," said Aden. "Last time this happened…"

"Aden, please don't bring it up," Bianca interrupted, wincing and rubbing her cheek. "That's a painful memory."

Aden laughed, but he didn't continue with his statement.

"Oh." Percy shrugged, wondering why Annabeth hated spiders so much. He continued with his lunch, until something caught his eye. A person was being dragged across the lunch area. Percy got a better look and saw that the person being dragged was a blonde-haired boy, and the person dragging him was a really buff girl, followed by some equally burly people.

"What's going on over there?" Percy pointed out the group of people. Everyone turned. Their expressions became slightly worried.

"Clarisse La Rue," Bianca said timidly.

"She likes beating people up," said Connor. "Especially freshman. Or 'fresh meat' as she calls us. That guy's Jason Grace. He's in my grade. He came from our rival school this semester, Rockley High. Kinda like how you moved here, Percy."

"Shouldn't somebody try to help him?" Percy stood up, but Aden grabbed his arm.

"That might not be the best idea," Aden told him.

"You might just wind up being a victim, too," Rachel said. Even though she said it, Rachel looked like she wanted to go and help the guy herself. "Believe me, Percy, I want to go over there just as bad as you do, but I promised my dad I'd steer clear from these situations, or else..." She curled her lip in distaste, as if she'd eaten something bitter. "Never mind. Besides, Clarisse tends to ignore people after getting them the first time, unless they fight back. Maybe the guy will just go along with it."

"Well I won't." Percy made his way over to Clarisse, despite the others' protests. "Hey!" he called at her.

She turned on him instantly. Her demeanor was intimidating, but Percy held his ground. Clarisse took a look at him and sneered. "Who's this runt? A friend of yours?" She looked at the blonde kid, Jason. He didn't say anything. He just looked at Percy like, _Don't get into this, man._

"What gives you the right to go beating up people?" Percy asked, trying to sound firm.

Clarisse only smirked. "Oh, this one thinks he's tough. We'll see about that, now won't we? Grab him, Mark." Two beefy hands seized Percy's arms, and Clarisse started towards him. Her focus was on him now, and Percy tried to get Jason's attention, motioning with his head to get him to run away. Thankfully, Jason understood, and he silently slipped away. Mark tried to bring it to Clarisse's attention, but Percy stomped on his foot and he yelled in pain. Percy dodged as Mark tried to punch him, so Mark ended up hitting Clarisse in the gut. It didn't seem to hurt her, it just made her angry.

"Mark, you idiot! I'll get you for that!" Clarisse shouted. Soon the two of them were in a fight with each other, and that gave Percy his chance to get away.

"Percy!" someone said. It turned out to be Annabeth, and she was running toward him. When she caught up with him, she gave him an angry look. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"I couldn't just let Clarisse beat that kid up!" Percy said in his defense. "Why are you mad at me?"

"Don't do that." Annabeth glared at him. She seemed a little frustrated. "I promised I'd keep you out of trouble."

Percy stared at her blankly. "What?"

Annabeth bit her lip, as if she'd let something slip out. She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the lunch table. "Just come on."

Percy looked back at Clarisse, and saw that someone had called up a teacher, and it seemed as though Clarisse and her friend were getting lectured. Behind the teacher, Percy saw a girl with braided hair, a guy in an army jacket, and Jason. Clarisse did not look happy.

They sat back at the table. Travis had returned, and he was talking to his brother. The rest of the group, minus Annabeth, was looking at Percy with concern. Percy just shrugged and went back to his lunch. He heard Bianca whisper to Rachel. Something like, "He's doomed." It didn't faze him; they had to be overreacting. Aden left afterward, saying that he had something to do before lunch ended. Percy was finished with his lunch and had thrown the trash away.

"Percy, what's your next class?" Annabeth asked him as he sat back down.

Percy thought for a moment. "Adams."

"Me too."

"So I guess that makes it easier for you, huh?"

"Makes what easier?" Travis butt in. He looked at Annabeth. "Are you like his escort now, Annabeth?" It could've been an innocent question, but Travis' grin said otherwise.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Travis. Mr. Brunner told me to show him around."

"Sure," Travis said.

At that moment, a girl walked up to their table and tapped Rachel on the shoulder. When Travis and Connor saw her, they looked at each other with that mischievous smile.

"Hi, Rachel," the girl said. "Where do you want to meet up for Frederickson's project?"

"Oh, I almost forgot about that," Rachel said. "How about the library? Are you free after school tomorrow?"

The girl nodded. "The library it is then."

"Hey, Katie," Travis greeted the girl, smirking and raising an eyebrow.

Katie gave him and Connor a hard look and turned away with a huff. As she walked off, Travis chuckled.

"What was that about?" Bianca asked Travis.

"She's mad because Connor and I painted all the white roses in gardening club," Travis stated proudly, like he was proud of what he did. "Katie's the head of it, and when she found out, she knew it was us right away. It was quite flattering to have our work recognized, wouldn't you say, Connor?" Travis looked at his brother and they both laughed.

Rachel shook her head. "Wow, Travis. Now you've just made her mad."

"Psh, whatever. Why does she care so much about plants anyway?" he grumbled.

The girls all looked at each other with raised eyebrows, then at Travis. He didn't seem to understand what was going on, but neither did the rest of the guys.

Then the bell rang.

Annabeth stood up immediately. "Let's go, Percy." She grabbed her stuff and pulled him to his feet by his arm.

Travis whistled. "Someone's in a hurry."

Annabeth ignored them. Percy followed her through the crowd of students to Adams' room. When they were near the door, someone bumped Annabeth's shoulder and she dropped a book. Percy moved forward quickly and caught the book before it fell to the ground.

"Thanks," Annabeth muttered quietly. "Again, I guess."

Percy tried to say "you're welcome," but he looked at Annabeth's face and the words abandoned him. She was really pretty. Her eyes were a stormy grey and her honey blonde hair was curled; it gave her a type of princess look. Percy looked down at the book he was giving her, and saw that she had it in her hand too, like she was going to take it from him, but neither of them let go for a moment, until Annabeth recollected herself. She tugged the book from Percy's hand and walked inside the class room.

"Well, well," said a jeering voice. Clarisse was passing them by in the halls with her friends, who were all sneering. "Looks like the runt has a girlfriend."

Percy tried to give Clarisse his best glare.

"Lay off," he told her.

Clarisse stepped forward and grabbed the front of his shirt. "Listen here, lover boy. Just because you got away with it the first time, doesn't mean you'll be so lucky later on. You better watch your back." She released his shirt and stalked off with her group.

Percy sighed as he entered the classroom. "Great," he muttered to himself. "It's only my first day and I've already made an enemy."

**A/N: Yeah...Rockley High School. Sorry, I couldn't think of anything better. I remember in my first drafts of this fic, I was going to do an exchange program thing, but Percy and Jason are about a year apart, so that wouldn't make much sense. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!**


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